So, the drama-filled United States elections are over and President Barack Obama won in almost all battleground states. I hope Opposition Leader Andrew Holness has by now requested a copy of his election strategy. Part of that strategy was to leave paid staff in critical swing states as long as four years ago when they first won.

Since our last general election, we have had a new set of additions to the voters list, and each time I ask a member of the opposition party how many supporters they have on the list, I get a mouthful of lame excuses. They need to wake up and smell the organisation game.

But for me, it was very instructive to see long lines of voters waiting to vote; this reminded me of what black people went through in South Africa following the fall of apartheid. First-World country indeed! Who would have 'thunk' it?

I have also, for some time, grown increasingly disappointed with the Republicans, for whom I previously held a lot of respect. Let's face it. George W. Bush did not exactly inspire confidence, but then came Obama and he actually showed some care and concern for the masses. Alas, someone forgot to tell him it takes cash to care and the economy just nosedived. Can/will he fix it in his second term or will he continue to suffer from the effects of sour-grape suckers?

You see, no matter how else it's spun, I know that were Obama a 100 per cent white Democratic president, he would have had a much easier ride these past four years. All that said, time is running out for us all. In Jamaica, we have no IMF agreement, our economy is in a coma and we are all holding our collective breaths for something to happen ... good or bad.

In America, people on the East Coast are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Sandy. I get an evil little kick when I see that folks in a First-World country still have no power long after most of us got back ours. And when folks there complain to me, I simply tell them, "Welcome to life's realities".

Stormy seas are ahead; I just hope and pray we all have the strength to ride them out.